Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Super Soldiers & Innovators
by Anzac-A1
Summary: Shortly after the appearance of Team Trinity, a fifth Gundam meister appears. What is the story behind him, and how will he affect the battles to come?
1. Chapter 1: The Fifth Meister

**Finally, it's done! I've had this story floating around for a while, but only just managed to get it written up and uploaded. Anyway, read and enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 1: The Fifth Meister.<p>

_2307 AD, three days after the appearance of Team Trinity, somewhere in mainland America..._

The location was not one that would have struck anyone as being particularly amazing. In fact, there was no civilisation anywhere within one hundred miles of the area. However, the area in fact concealed a very important secret. In the middle of a large clearing inside the large forest, one could make out a faint haze, as if something were distorting the light passing through. In actual fact, the haze was caused by an optical camouflage system, which concealed one of Celestial Being's Assault Containers. Within the small ship, the lone human occupant was roused from his sleep by a beeping from the terminal next to him. Waking immediately, he quickly sat down to open the link.

_/You there?/_

_/Yes. What is it?/_

_/I assume you've heard about Team Trinity by now, right?/_

_/Yes./_

_/I've learned that they are planning an attack on the Union's MSWAD military base./_

_/And you want me to stop them, correct?/_

_/Exactly./_

_/Understood./_

_/Excellent. We'll talk again soon./_

As the link closed, the person leaned back in his chair, contemplating the new turn of events. Finally, after months of waiting he would at last begin operations. His mind now focused on the task at hand, the person left the room, heading for the hangar bay of the small ship, where his mobile rested, awaiting its pilot.

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><p><em>MSWAD Base, three hours later...<em>

Michael Trinity reacted through sheer instinct, quickly drawing Zwei's GN Buster Sword as Howard's Overflag barrelled towards him, plasma blade ignited. The two machines collided with tremendous force, as Howard pushed forward with all his might.

"_This is the power of the Flag!" _he shouted, increasing the pressure on his sword. Michael snarled with frustration, launching his GN Fangs. The fangs screamed through the air before turning around and impaling the Overflag throughout its body. The suit slumped over, falling a short distance before exploding. The fangs quickly returned to Zwei, docking with the suit's two GN Fang Pods.

"_These are my Fangs!" _ Michael exclaimed, before Johann interrupted him.

"_Have you had enough? We're withdrawing." _He ordered sternly.

"_Aw, Johann." _Michael whined, complaining about having to end the fight so soon.

"_We have another mission to deal with. Gundam Meisters are busy people after all." _Johann said, as he and Nena Trinity left the area.

"_Yeah, yeah." _Michael muttered, moving to follow his siblings. Just as he turned to leave, a large particle beam blasted in front of him, forcing him to back up quickly.

"_What the hell?" _Michael exclaimed, looking for where the beam came from. To his surprise, he spotted another Gundam, emitting green GN particles, but this suit looked pretty old compared to the other Gundams. The Gundam was similar in size to the Exia, but was less sleek. Thick armour covered its legs, forearms, shoulders and chest, clearly having been added on to the original frame. Mounted on the right forearm was a double barrelled beam gun, while a larger cannon was mounted behind the suit's left shoulder. A single beam saber was affixed above the suit's GN Drive. The Gundam quickly closed in on the Throne, cutting off its escape.

"_You won't get away that easily!" _The pilot shouted.

"_Just who the hell are you?" _Michael demanded.

"_What difference does it make? You won't need to know who I am when you're dead!" _the pilot roared, firing the suit's forearm-mounted gun. Michael raised his sword, using the massive blade as a shield to block the hail of particle beams. However in doing so, he blocked his view ahead. When the beams ceased, Michael lowered his sword, only to find that the Gundam had disappeared.

"_What? Where the hell are you?" _Michael swore, searching for the Gundam.

"_Right here!" _the pilot shouted. Michael looked up to see the Gundam diving down on him from above, a beam saber ignited in its left hand. Before Michael could react, the Gundam's saber sliced off the Zwei's right arm. The Gundam replaced its beam saber, before grabbing the Zwei's falling GN Buster Sword. Suddenly a red particle beam blasted between the two mobile suits, as Johann and Nena came to their brother's aid.

"_Michael, leave him! We have to leave now!" _Johann ordered. Michael grudgingly relented, following the other two Thrones. The other Gundam held back, as the pilot watched the Thrones retreat.

"_It's tempting, but following them would be a bad idea." _He thought.

From the cockpit of his Overflag, Graham Acker watched the scene with disbelief. Why had the new Gundam attacked the others? Weren't they supposed to be on the same side?

"_Captain, let's go get him! He's wide open!" _Daryl shouted.

"Alright then, follow me!" Graham yelled, charging towards the Gundam from behind. Suddenly the suit turned to face the approaching Overflag, firing it's arm-mounted gun. Graham barely managed to avoid the shots, stunned by the Gundam's accuracy.

"_Simply incredible, but you won't best me!"_ he thought, transforming his Overflag into mobile suit form, drawing his plasma blade shortly after. The Overflag and Gundam met head-on, their blades clashing between them. Suddenly the Gundam fired the two small guns mounted on either side of its head, forcing Graham to break away to avoid being hit. Then the Gundam dashed forward, slashing at the Overflag with its massive blade. Despite Graham's experience, the sword managed to slice off his suit's right arm, taking the plasma blade with it. Graham reacted through sheer instinct, choking back the panic as he quickly backed off, the rest of the Overflags taking his place. The Gundam's pilot took advatage of the temporary lull, firing the suit's cannon. The Overflags were forced to scatter to avoid the large particle beam. By the time the beam subsided, the Gundam had dissappeared from sight, leaving the Union pilots completely bewildered.

As he flew away, the Gundam's pilot was busy thinking about his next move. Now that he'd revealed his mobile suit, he knew it was time to come out of hiding and join the rest of Celestial Being's Gundams. The only problem lay in finding the Ptolemaios and then actually getting there in time. Now that they had knowledge of his suit, the Union forces would no doubt be mounting an operation to search for him very soon. Worse, they would most likely figure out that he had to be somewhere nearby to have responded to Team Trinity's assault. After a few minutes, he thought he had a plan worked out, but decided to get a second opinion first.

"This is 0 Gundam. Linda, are you there?" he asked. Shortly after, a woman's face appeared on the monitor in front of him.

"_Yes, I'm here. So, how did it go?" _she asked, flashing a sweet smile.

"It went perfectly. The 0 Gundam has proved a capable mobile suit so far, thought until I get involved in a proper battle I can't give an accurate assessment. In any case, I wanted to ask you about something." he replied.

"_Yes, what is it?" _Linda asked.

"Now that the Union knows about me, it's almost certain they'll be looking for me before long. I was thinking of linking up with the Ptolemaios and the other Gundams, only I have no idea where they are." he explained.

"_Yes, that does sound like a good plan. Alright, head back to the Assault Container while I try and contact the Ptolemaios. Once I've done that I'll call you again to let you know where you need to head to join up with them." _Linda said. The pilot nodded in agreement, then closed the link. Then he set a course back to the Assault Container, engaging the 0 Gundam's optical camouflage to further decrease the likelihood of being spotted.

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><p>As the 0 Gundam continued its return journey, Linda was following up on her promise and had contacted the Ptolemaios shortly after her conversation with the 0 Gundam's meister. Needless to say, the crew of the Ptolemaios and the other meisters were shocked to learn of another Gundam and meister, as they had thought there were only four Gundams.<p>

"So why has this meister not shown himself yet? He might have been able to help use in the desert." Tieria demanded, slightly angered by the fact that information had been withheld from them.

"_I understand your frustrations, but we were still working on the suit. Given that the 0 Gundam is over fifteen years old, we had to make sure it would still function in battle." _Linda replied. Tieria visibly calmed down a bit, still a bit annoyed.

"You're sure we can trust him? I didn't see a fifth meister mentioned in Veda's data banks.," Tieria asked.

"_That's because Veda didn't choose him. Rather, he came to us. From what we know about him, he's an HRL Super Soldier, but somehow he managed to escape." _Linda explained.

"Sounds like an interesting guy." Lockon remarked.

"_Another Super Soldier? He's just like me then." _Allelujah thought, his hatred for the Human Reform League resurfacing.

"Alright, tell him that we'll be waiting for him in orbit, behind the orbital ring. He can meet us there." Sumeragi said. Linda nodded, closing the link.

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><p>A few hours later, the Ptolemaios was tucked behind the orbital ring, the massive structure serving to conceal the ship from view. Outside the ship, Dynames and Exia waited, ready to move as soon as they confirmed the other Gundam. Setsuna and Lockon had been told by Sumeragi to meet the Gundam a short distance from the ship, check to make sure everything was okay, then escort it back to the ship. Suddenly, Lockon spotted the Assault Container in the distance, approaching along the length of the orbital ring.<p>

"Miss Sumeragi, I've confirmed the Assault Container. It's moving along the length of the orbital ring." Lockon said.

_'Good. Setsuna, head towards it and escort it back to the Ptolemaios. Lockon, you stay here and watch Setsuna's back." _Sumeragi replied.

"Roger that. Exia, heading out." Setsuna said. As the Exia closed on the Assault Container, Setsuna couldn't find anything out of place or suspicious, so he moved the Exia to fly alongside the small ship as they headed back towards the Ptolemaios.

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><p>As there was no room for the Assault Container to dock with the Ptolemaios, the small ship was forced to fly alongside the larger ship on autopilot, while the pilot exited the craft and entered the Ptolemaios. As the airlock re-pressurised, the crew were curious as to what this new meister would be like. Tieria in particular was curious as this was a meister who hadn't been chosen by Veda. Once the airlock had pressurised the door opened, allowing the meister to step out. His pilot suit was all white, the helmet's visor hiding his face from view, while his height was slightly greater than Allelujah's. The pilot then removed his helmet, revealing his face. His hair was snow white, and fell just below his shoulders. His eyes were a bright golden colour, but appeared devoid of emotion.<p>

"Well, it's good to finally meet you. I'm Sumeragi Lee Noriega, tactical forecaster." Sumeragi greeted.

"It's good to meet you as well. My name is Sterling Aarden, meister of the 0 Gundam." The pilot replied.

"Apparently, you're another Human Reform League Super Soldier, correct?" Tieria asked. Sterling nodded.

"Yes, however I'm somewhat different from the others." He replied.

"How so?" Tieria asked, now slightly intrigued by Sterling's answer.

"From what I was told while I was still in the institute, I was designed to be the 'ultimate' Super Soldier. What that means, I don't know." Sterling explained. Tieria nodded, satisfied with his answer for the time being.

"In any case, it's good to finally get some extra help around here." Lockon remarked.

"That reminds me. I recently encountered the Gundam Thrones while they were attacking a Union military base. During the battle, I managed to obtain the orange Throne's sword. I was hoping that Ian could figure out a way to attach it to the 0 Gundam, so that I can use it more effectively." Sterling asked.

"Sure thing, I'll get right on it.' Ian replied.

"Thank you." Sterling said.

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><p>A few weeks later, it seemed as though the tide was turning against both Celestial Being and Team Trinity. The three national blocs had formed an alliance known as the United Nations or UN, after each receiving ten mobile suits powered by pseudo GN Drives. Unfortunately, the 0 Gundam had been undergoing some minor repairs when Celestial Being first encountered these new mobile suits, which they later learned were called GN-Xs. The GN-Xs displayed astonishing agility, and their weapons could even penetrate Virtue's GN Field. Even more shocking, midway through the battle all of the Gundams had suddenly shut down for no apparent reason. Thankfully though, Ian got the backup system working, reactivating all of the Gundams, except for Virtue. The meisters barely managed to drive off the UN forces, causing Sumeragi to worry about what would happen now that they were faced with such a powerful enemy. As a result of the battle, Lockon was badly injured and blinded in his right eye from saving Tieria during the fight. Despite his injuries, Lockon insisted that he would keep fighting. Setsuna then decided to take the Assault Container and the GN Arms down to earth, determined to save the Thrones before they were wiped out. While Setsuna and Lasse were busy with their mission, the rest of the Ptolemaios' crew tried to find ways to be useful. Christina busied herself by trying to find any data she could on the GN-X mobile suits, to hopefully make the meisters better prepared for their next encounter. Lichty meanwhile decided to help Ian repair Dynames, Virtue and Kyrios, all of which had sustained damage during their last battle. However, Sterling was spending nearly all of his time apart from eating and sleeping in the 0 Gundam's cockpit, running through simulation battles against the GN-Xs. The simulations were based on the data that Christina had managed to gather, so they were good at demonstrating the suit's capabilities in battle. Amazingly, even when outnumbered ten to one, Sterling was able to fend off his adversaries' attacks while at the same time scoring devastating hits on his enemies, causing the others to wonder what exactly he had gone through while at the Super Human Institute. After a few days of being around the new meister, the rest of the crew found Sterling was a very mysterious person. Much like Allelujah, he was a very reserved character, not willing to divulge any information he deemed unnecessary, but at the same time he appeared as a very cold person, his eyes displaying no hint of emotion. His behaviour seemed almost like that of a machine.<p>

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><p>"<em>Hm, it looks like ten is about as many as I can handle by myself." <em>Sterling thought. Once again he was fighting a simulation battle against the GN-Xs. Christina had managed to gather a little more data on the suits, so Sterling was finding it a little easier. However, now that he was facing a total of thirteen GN-Xs, he had found his limit. Even though he was a Super Soldier, Sterling knew he was still only human; even he had his limits. Just then, he was interrupted by Christina's voice over the intercom.

"_Attention all crew members. We've just received an emergency coded message from Veda. I'm showing it to you all now." _She said. Her face disappeared from the 0 Gundam's monitor, being replaced by the image of an elderly man wearing a monocle.

"_Aeolia Schenburg...?" _ Sterling thought, wondering what the message could possibly be.

"_To those who use GN Drives: I don't know whether you will carry my will, however I entrust you my final hope to you, full utilization of your GN Drives. I hope that you will use them and fight your hardest for the sake of ending war and bringing about a new peace. Not for the sake of Celestial Being, but for the sake of your own wills, as those who have Gundams." _ Aeolia Schenburg said, after which the message ended. Sterling then noticed a message had come up on the console in front of him; **Trans-Am Function now available**.

"_Trans-Am...this must be the full utilization of the GN Drives that Aeolia Schenburg was referring to. This is what will allow us to truly end war."_ Sterling thought. During his days at the institute, he had never been treated as a child, or even as a human being. The scientists there saw him only as an experiment and a weapon. As a result, Sterling had grown to hate the scientists with every fibre of his being. All, except for one; Cecilia Alkaev. Cecilia had been the only one to treat Sterling as a person, she had even been the one give his name, which was derived from 'sterling silver', a reference to his unique hair colour. However, Cecilia was deemed to be hampering Sterling's development as a proper Super Soldier and was asked to resign. When she refused, the HRL military leaders decided to have her discretely executed, to keep the institute a secret. When Sterling learned about this, it was the final straw for him. He realised that he couldn't rely on anyone but himself. So from that moment he blocked out all of his emotions, deeming them unnecessary. After escaping the institute, he wandered the Earth before stumbling across a member of Celestial Being, who turned out to be Linda Vashti. After learning what the group intended to do, Sterling didn't hesitate in asking to join them. To him, war was the thing that had destroyed everything he held dear. It was the reason he had been turned into a monster designed only to fight, and why Cecilia, the only one to accept him as a human, had been killed. Sterling decided that, rather than fighting in war, he would put his abilities to better use, by fighting to end war altogether.

"_Cecilia...I promise you. I will see the end of war forever. Until then, I'll never stop fighting!"_ Sterling thought.

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><p><strong>And that concludes the 1<strong>**st**** chapter of **_**Mobile Sit Gundam 00: Super Soldiers & Innovators**_**. Anzac-A1 out!**

**AN: Also, if anyone can work out what the title means (Hint: it has something to do with the romance in the story) they will get a special mention!**


	2. Chapter 2: An Angel's Defence

**Sorry for the wait guys! Been a little busy lately (Busy...in the holidays...hah hah!). Anyway, here's the next installment of Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Super Soldiers & Innovators, enjoy!**

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><p>Chapter 2: An Angel's Defence.<p>

Shortly after Setsuna and Lasse had rejoined the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi called everyone to the briefing room. As Setsuna and Lasse explained what had happened on Earth, everyone was shocked to learn that one of the Gundam Thrones had somehow been stolen, with another of the Thrones destroyed in battle. The last Throne had since vanished, with no reported sightings of the machine anywhere. Setsuna had engaged the pilot of the stolen Throne in combat, but had been close to defeat when Aeolia Schenburg's message had been sent. Thanks to the newly available Trans-Am, Setsuna had overpowered the Throne, forcing the pilot to retreat.

"So, exactly what is this Trans-Am system?" Tieria asked.

"Well based on the data that got sent along with that message, it seems to be a system only present in the five original solar reactors, sort of like a black box. Apparently, the GN Drives expel all of their stored particles at once, which increases the Gundam's firepower, speed and mobility three fold. The only problem is that is puts a lot of stress on the GN Drives, so the system has a time limit of three minutes." Ian explained.

"I see." Tieria replied.

"What I don't understand is why this system wasn't available until now. What was the purpose of hiding it?" Sterling asked.

"Sadly, that's what we don't know. Given what we do know, I doubt even Veda has any information on it." Ian replied.

"In any case, this may prove to be our only trump card. Based on what we know, it's very likely the UN forces are planning to attack us at the same time. That means you'll be facing roughly twenty five GN-Xs all at once. What's worse, we've even confirmed the presence of a new mobile armour that has joined the enemy forces." Sumeragi explained.

"This just keeps getting better." Lockon grumbled.

"So what's our plan?" Allelujah asked.

"Our only option is to face the UN forces head on. Now that we have the Assault Containers with us and the 0 Gundam is operational, we may just have a chance. Setsuna, you'll head out with Lasse in the GN Arms to stop that mobile armour." Sumeragi explained.

"Roger that." Setsuna replied.

"Sure thing." Lasse agreed.

"Lockon, take Dynames and the other GN Arms and deal with the enemy transports."

"Just leave it to me." Lockon replied, flashing his trademark grin.

"Allelujah, Tieria, you two will confront the enemy mobile suits before they reach the Ptolemaios. I don't expect you to stop all of them, just get as many as you can, got it?" Sumeragi asked.

"Got it." Allelujah replied.

"Understood." Tieria agreed.

"Sterling, I need you to stay with the Ptolemaios and defend us from any mobile suits that manage to get through. Think you can handle it?"

"Consider it taken care of." Sterling replied. But in his thoughts, the Super Soldier knew it would be a very tough battle to pull through. He had seen the GN-Xs in combat already, and they had demonstrated performance capabilities close to those of each of the Gundams, save for Virtue's sheer firepower, Dynames' accuracy, Kyrios' speed, and Exia's close combat abilities. While Sterling was confident he could out fight the pilot's, he wasn't so sure about his mobile suit. The 0 Gundam was the genesis of all four of the other Gundam's but possessed capabilities far below that of each. The biggest problem was mobility. As the 0 Gundam's original armour was made from conventional E-Carbon, it wasn't as well protected as the other Gundams, which used a mix of E-Carbon and GN Composite armour. To remedy this, the Celestial Being engineers designed the Full Armour pack for the 0 Gundam. It featured GN Composite armour plating that fitted over the suit's existing armour, a GN Double Beam Rifle on the right forearm, and a GN Beam Bazooka (an early test version of Virtue's signature weapon) mounted behind the left shoulder. However, the pack increased the 0 Gundam's weight by almost thirty tons, severely limiting its mobility.

"_I'll just have to make sure that I don't get into a situation where I need to fight at close quarters. In that case, my best option will be to try and destroy the enemy at a distance, before they get to close."_ Sterling thought. Briefing over, the crew headed to their stations, to prepare for the coming battle.

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><p>"<em>Attention all crew members! The UN forces are launching their attack now! All Gundams are to launch immediately!" <em>Christina announced. Within seconds, Sterling had his pilot suit on and ready. Grabbing his helmet, he quickly headed for the container that held the 0 Gundam. The cockpit hatch automatically opened, allowing Sterling to climb inside. As the hatch closed again, the Super Soldier put his helmet on, steeling himself for the battle that would soon unfold.

"_Assault Container with Gundam Exia and GN Arms E on-board, I'm heading out." _Lasse announced. The small ship began to move ahead, gaining speed as it broke away from the Ptolemaios. As the Assault Container headed out, Lockon prepared his own launch.

"_Dynames with GN Arms D, Lockon Stratos, I'm taking off!" _he said. The GN Arms disengaged from the rear of the second Assault Container, attached in place of one of the Ptolemaios' standard containers, heading out after Lasse and Setsuna. Meanwhile, the containers proceeded to shift their position, moving Virtue into launch position.

"_Virtue is now in launch position. Increasing linear catapult voltage from 230 to 520. Virtue stabilised within linear field. Transferring timing control to Virtue."_ Christina announced.

"_Roger. Virtue, Tieria Erde, launching now." _Tieria replied. The large Gundam shot out of the catapult, its GN Cannons moving from launch mode to combat mode as the suit streaked away. The containers moved once again, this time moving Allelujah and Kyrios into position.

"_Kyrios has entered the catapult in fighter mode. Increasing linear catapult voltage, Kyrios stabilised within linear field. Transferring timing control of launch sequence to Kyrios."_ Christina said.

"_Roger, I have control. Kyrios, Allelujah Haptism, commencing interception operation." _Allelujah announced. The sleek orange Gundam rocketed out of the catapult, quickly vanishing into the distance, ready to intercept the UN mobile suit force. As Kyrios and Allelujah headed out, Sterling prepared for his own launch. As he was to be staying with the Ptolemaios, there was no need to use the catapult to launch the 0 Gundam. Instead, the container hatch opened fully, allowing the suit to move out under its own power. Once clear of the container, Sterling moved the 0 Gundam away from the ship, before taking up his position in front of the bow. The position was such that he would be able to counter any attacks from the enemy mobile suits, but also allowed the remaining crew to see ahead and monitor the other Gundams as well.

"0 Gundam, Sterling Arden, I'm in position." he announced.

"_Excellent. We've just confirmed that Kyrios and Virtue have engaged the enemy mobile suits in battle, and Dynames is about to attack the transports. We'll inform you if any GN-Xs manage to break through." _Sumeragi told him.

"Understood, I'll be ready." Sterling replied. He aimed the 0 Gundams GN Double Beam Rifle forward, using the suit's free hand to stabilise the weapon. The stance would allow him to react at a moment's notice to any incoming attacks with lethal force. If any enemy units were lucky enough to get close, they would be in for one shocking surprise. The GN Buster Sword was now attached to the 0 Gundam's right shoulder armour, allowing the suit to deploy the large blade with ease.

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><p>"<em>Sterling, come in!" <em>Sumeragi shouted.

"Is something wrong? What happened?" Sterling demanded. The forecaster's frantic tone immediately got his attention, especially since everything was going to plan, to his knowledge.

"_Bad news. Tieria and Allelujah are saying that they can barely handle the enemy by themselves. Apparently most of the GN-Xs managed to get past them, while a few stayed behind to keep Kyrios and Virtue occupied. On top of that, Lockon is busy fighting that stolen Throne unit alone. However, that machine is specialised for close quarter fighting, while Dynames isn't, so I'm doubtful of his chances." _Sumeragi told him. _"In any case, prepare for enemy attacks, they'll be in range any second."_

"Understood, I'm ready for them." Sterling replied. He focused his attention directly ahead, charging the 0 Gundam's GN Beam Bazooka, ready to fire as soon as he spotted the enemy. _"No matter what happens, they won't pass me." _Just then, the first GN-X came into view, charging towards the Ptolemaios and the 0 Gundam at breakneck speed. Without hesitation, Sterling fired the beam bazooka. The large particle beam blasted towards the GN-X, but its pilot easily avoided the attack.

"_Damn! It looks like long-range attacks won't work. It gives them too much time to react." _Sterling thought. Abandoning the bazooka, he opened fire with the suit's GN Double Beam Rifle. A volley of particle beams flew towards the GN-X, which immediately tried to dodge again. This time, however, the pilot was unable to avoid the second attack, as one of the beams punched right through the suit's GN Tau Drive, the resulting explosion destroying the rest of the suit. But just as Sterling dispatched the first attacker, the rest of the UN forces quickly arrived. Now a total of nineteen GN-Xs were on the attack, firing a barrage of particle beams at the Ptolemaios and its lone defender. Masses of GN particles quickly began to gather around the ship, soon forming a bright green GN Field. The GN-Xs' particle beams struck the field in rapid succession, just barely repelled by the high concentration of particles. At the same time, Sterling held his position as the 0 Gundam was hit by more of the same particle beams. Some of the beams hit the GN Buster Sword, quickly destroying the weapon. Although the beams didn't get all the way through, they still managed to badly damage the suit's armour, which worried Sterling.

"_If they can do that kind of damage from so far, I can't let them get any closer!" _he thought. Sterling continued to shoot back at the GN-Xs, firing the beam bazooka and double beam rifle together. Even with the GN-Xs' agility, they couldn't hope to evade the 0 Gundam's attacks forever. This was proven to be true, as moments later Sterling managed to shoot down two of the silver mobile suits in quick succession. But despite this, the odds were still very much against him, as the remaining GN-Xs closed in.

* * *

><p>"<em>Sterling, come in!" <em>Feldt called frantically.

"I'm a little busy right now! What is it?" Sterling asked, just as the 0 Gundam took another hit, this time to the left leg.

"_I can't get in touch with Dynames, can you try and contact Lockon?" _Feldt asked.

"Right, I'll see what I can do." Sterling replied, opening a sound only link with the sniper Gundam. "Lockon, this is Sterling. Are you there?"

"_Lockon...Lockon..." _ came Haro's reply, which threw Sterling for a moment. Why was it Haro that answered, and why did it sound so sad?

"Haro, what about Lockon?" Sterling asked.

"_Lockon gone...Lockon gone... _Haro replied. Sterling's eyes widened in shock, causing him to momentarily forget about the battle. Was Lockon really...? In the background he could hear Feldt crying at the shocking news, but it seemed to be a world apart from him at that time.

"_Damn you..._DAMN YOU!" Sterling roared opening fire on the GN-Xs again. By now the suits had closed the gap even further, but their closer proximity just meant that they had less time to react when Sterling fired on them. In no time at all, three more of the mobile suits ceased to exist, as Sterling continued to fire again and again. But despite this, the remaining machines just kept coming. In little time they had the 0 Gundam surrounded, attacking the aging mobile suit from multiple directions simultaneously. Sterling was now grateful for the Full Armour pack's protection as it was still holding together, if only just, under the relentless assault of particle beams.

"_Even so...I'm in trouble if this keeps up!" _Sterling thought. Although the 0 Gundam was fine for now, he knew that its armour wouldn't last forever. Worse still, there had been no reply from Kyrios, Exia or Virtue, so he had no way of knowing their situation. Suddenly, Sterling spotted something off to his left; a GN-X making a run for the Ptolemaios! The ship had its GN Field raised, but Sterling knew that it would be little help at close range. He tried to chase after the suit, but was forced back by more concentrated fire from the rest of the GN-X formation. Unable to do anything, Sterling was helpless as the GN-X fired, its particle beams impacting the Ptolemaios' bridge. The bridge exploded, the resulting smoke obscuring it from view.

"NO!" Sterling shouted. How could he have failed like that? Now the rest of the crew were most likely dead, with no response from Setsuna, Lasse, Allelujah, or Tieria. Sterling glared at the suits surrounding him, his hands shaking with rage.

"That does it! 0 Gundam, armour purge!" Sterling shouted, just as the GN-Xs fired again. The Full Armour components broke away from the 0 Gundam, releasing a mass of stored GN particles. The beams from the GN-Xs' weapons hit the particles and simply glanced off, deflected by the massive concentration of particles. The particles soon dispersed, revealing the 0 Gundam's true form. Particles streamed from its GN Drive, forming large particle wings behind the suit. The GN-Xs backed up, completely caught off guard by what they saw before them. The 0 Gundam's eyes flashed, as the suit grabbed its beam saber from its back. The weapon ignited straight away, forming a long blade of GN particles. With no warning, Sterling charged towards one of the GN-Xs head on. The suit's pilot panicked at the Gundam that was heading straight for him, backing away while firing wildly. Sterling easily dodged the poorly aimed shots, closing fast. Once in range he wasted no time, slicing the mobile suit from shoulder to hip, backing up to avoid the resulting explosion. He turned to face the rest of the GN-Xs, who were still in shock from what they'd just witnessed.

"Now you're mine! Trans-Am!" Sterling shouted. The 0 Gundam began to glow a reddish-pink hue, as a result of the sheer volume of particles it was now producing. Sterling then charged without warning, streaking towards the remaining GN-Xs, which immediately responded, firing at the swiftly approaching Gundam. The 0 Gundam however easily weaved through the intense barrage, leaving faint after images in its wake. Sterling continued on, going right past the first GN-X, his saber cutting the suit in half as he flew past, before swiftly decapitating another. The other suits scattered quickly, but the tactic proved futile. With its Trans-Am, the 0 Gundam was suddenly too fast and too agile for the GN-Xs to defeat or outrun. Sterling was unyielding. Every single attack was aimed at a vital point, each GN-X destroyed before the pilots could even try and fight back. Then, after what seemed like just a few seconds, the 0 Gundam's Trans-Am ended, the suit quickly returning to normal. But as it just so happened, Sterling had managed to destroy every one of the GN-X mobile suits; the Ptolemaios was finally safe again.

"_It's...finally over." _Sterling thought, feeling slightly exhausted from the intense combat. "Miss Sumeragi, can you hear me? Anyone?"

"_Sterling, is that you?" _came her reply.

"Yes, it's me. Are you guys alright in there?" Sterling asked. Sumeragi's hesitation did nothing to ease the dread he felt, almost certain he knew the answer.

"_Feldt, Ian and myself are okay, but Lichty, Christina, and Dr Moreno are..."_ Sumeragi replied.

"I see. What about the other meisters?" Sterling asked. _"How could this have happened?"_

"_We lost Exia's signal at one point, so we have no idea what happened to it. Kyrios was defeated, but Allelujah managed to eject his GN Drive, which Lasse was able to retrieve with the GN Arms. We believe that Kyrios was captured by the UN forces shortly after ejecting its drive. Tieria was also defeated, but Lasse managed to rescue him and what was left of Nadleeh before he was captured. Also, Dynames is on its way right now." _She told him. Sterling sighed heavily. Although they had achieved what just barely qualified as a victory, they had suffered far too greatly. Exia was missing, Kyrios was captured, Lockon was killed, and the Ptolemaios badly damaged, with the 0 Gundam suffering only minor damage.

Once the 0 Gundam was stowed away onboard the Ptolemaios, the ship quickly left the area to pick up Dynames, Lasse, Tieria, along with what remained of Nadleeh. There had been no indication that Exia was still operational or of its location, and given their current situation mounting a search and rescue operation was out of the question for the remaining crew of the Ptolemaios. After retrieving their remaining personnel, along with Dynames, Nadleeh, and Kyrios' GN Drive, Lasse set a course for deep space, heading to one of Celestial Beings' remote bases.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, what do you think? Sorry if the ending was a bit pathetic, but it was the best I could think of. Don't worry, the Season 2 chapters will be much more interesting. Anzac-A1 out!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: The Angel's Second Advent

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, but here it is! The first chapter of **_**Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Super Soldiers & Innovators**_** that takes place in the Season 2 arc. Enjoy!**

**AN: This is an edited chapter 2, as I've changed Sterling's mobile suit in this story and I've re-written some bits. Hope you enjoy. I'll also be doing a Fanon Gundam Wiki page for Sterling's mobile suit, and I'll let you guys know when that's up, in case you are curious about the details. Basically, it's a GN Drive Tau-powered 0 Gundam.**

**Episodes Covered: S2 Episodes 01-02.**

"Hi there." – Normal Speech.

"_Hi there." _– Thoughts/Communications.

"**Hi there." **– Haro unit/s speaking.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: The Angel's Second Advent.<p>

"_It's confirmed. It looks like the Federation's new space cruiser is making its way to Lagrange 4." _ Mileina told Tieria, who had already arrived in one of the Ptolemaios II's hangar decks.

"_It's just like Wang Liu Mei reported. Maybe this-" _Ian said, moving behind his daughter.

"I'm taking Seravee out." Tieria replied, cutting Ian off. As soon as they had received the information regarding this latest development, the crew had decided to head towards Lagrange 4 as well. The reason for it was simple; they had never found any trace of the Exia, which meant that either it had been completely destroyed, or that Setsuna had somehow survived. And knowing Setsuna, he would almost certainly show up at Lagrange 4 as well. Tieria was just about to head down to his new mobile suit, GN-008 Seravee, when both he and Mileina received a message.

"_Tieria, don't bother. I'm already on my way to Lagrange 4 right now." _Sterling told them, surprising Tieria and the two Vashtis. They knew that Sterling had gone taken the 0 Gundam to one of Celestial Being's other asteroid bases for a complete overhaul, and more importantly, to work out a new powerplant for the suit. The 0 Gundam's GN Drive had been removed for use in the new 00 Gundam, but the CB engineers had managed to reverse engineer and build a modified GN Drive Tau for the suit. The new drive was still less powerful than the true GN Drives, but more powerful than the Federation's drives, as well as having a longer operation time

"Very well, I'll let you and 0 Gundam handle it then." Tieria replied. "I assume everything went well."

"_Oh, don't worry about that."_ Sterling answered.

"_Alright, I'll go let Linda know then." _Ian said, heading out of the cockpit, disappearing from behind Mileina.

"_Roger that, Mr Aarden, good luck." _She told him. Sterling nodded, smiling, and then closed the link.

* * *

><p>"<em>Your time in this world...has already ended!" <em> Barack Zinin roared, as he sliced of both of Exia's arms, leaving the Gundam open and defenceless. Setsuna tried to back away, then suddenly spotted the second A-LAWS mobile suit, a GN-XIII, charging his left flank, spear already drawn.

"_I've got you now, Gundam!" _ Lt Agraga yelled, as he prepared to end both Exia and Setsuna in one blow. Suddenly a large orange particle beam blasted between the two mobile suits, destroying the GN-XIII's spear. _"What the…?" _ Agraga gasped, turning in the direction the beam had come from. To his and Zinin's shock, they saw a mobile heading towards them at speed, its thrusters and the cone on its back streaming red/orange GN particles. The suit's limbs were all white, save for its feet, both of which were red. The torso and chest were a mixture of blue, yellow, white and red, while a red-trimmed white shield was attached to the suit's left arm. What looked like a large beam cannon was mounted behind the suit's right shoulder. Meanwhile, inside Exia, Setsuna was also shocked by the appearance of the new suit.

"_That looks like...0 Gundam. But those GN particles…" _he thought, as the suit raised and fired the rifle it carried in its right hand. Zinin and Agraga dodged the shots, with Zinin returning fire. The suit effortlessly avoided the orange particle beams, as Agraga drew his GN-XIII's beam saber, attacking the new suit from behind.

"_I've gotcha!" _he shouted, as he slashed at the suit's back. The suit suddenly spun around, blocking the saber with its shield. Before Agraga could react, the suit replaced its rifle on its right thigh and drew a single beam saber. Agraga barely had time to process what was transpiring in front of him, before the suit's beam saber cut his GN-XIII from shoulder to hip, before swiftly backing away, as the GN-XIII exploded, taking Agraga with it. The suit turned to face Zinin, its saber still ignited. Zinin chose not to engage, deeming it too risky to engage an enemy he knew nothing about, especially with Warrant Officer Halevy not responding. The suit watched silently as Zinin retrieved the Warrant Officer and her suit, before leaving the combat area. With the threat of the A-LAWS now removed, the suit moved closer to what was left of the Exia, allowing Setsuna to see it properly. Setsuna was surprised to discover that, despite some obvious changes, the suit in front of him was the (for lack of a better word) antiquated 0 Gundam.

"_We kind of figured you'd be tracking the A-LAWS' activities. Long time no see, Setsuna F Seiei." _Sterling greeted.

"Sterling...Aarden." Setsuna replied, still only half-believing what his senses were telling him.

* * *

><p>"It's been just over four years, you've certainly changed, Setsuna." Sterling observed, a slight smile on his face. After the fight, Sterling used his suit to move the badly damaged Exia into one of the hangars on the side of the colony to wait for the Ptolemaios II to arrive and pick them up. The 0 Gundam stood behind Sterling with its back to the hangar doors, while Exia lay on its side behind Setsuna.<p>

"On the other hand, you don't seem to have changed very much, if at all." Setsuna replied. It was true; apart from the fact that Sterling had grown taller (Setsuna guessed he was probably taller than himself) and his face was clearly more mature, the super soldier still looked pretty much the same as he had four years ago.

"You're not the first person to say that; everyone's been telling me the same thing for four years. I've gotten used to it by now." Sterling replied. "In any case, we should probably..."

"Setsuna F Seiei!" someone shouted angrily. Sterling turned to his right, to see a boy with dark brown hair and wearing a worker space suit approaching them.

"_Who's this guy? Does he know Setsuna somehow?" _Sterling wondered.

"Have you always been the pilot of that Gundam?" the boy demanded, clearly referring to the ruined Exia.

"Saji Crossroad." Setsuna replied calmly, unfazed by the boy's evident anger.

"_Well, that answers that question." _Sterling thought, remaining silent for the time being.

"Answer me!" Saji shouted.

"_Whoa, what did Setsuna to piss him off this much?" _Sterling wondered, surprised by the outburst.

"Yes." Setsuna finally replied.

"That means...you were involved five years ago." Saji said.

"Yes, I was." Setsuna replied, his expression still unchanged.

"Do you know what you've done? Because of what you were doing a lot of people died who didn't have to! And you're the ones responsible!" Saji shouted, but Setsuna stayed silent. "Because of you guys...the person I loved...was injured...and her family and relatives were killed. And then all I had left was my sister, but she crossed paths with Celestial Being, and she was killed too!" he said, as he started to cry.

"_I can't say I blame this guy for being angry about what's happened to him, but Setsuna didn't do any of it." _Sterling thought.

"I lost Louise...and my sister...they're both gone now!" Saji shouted, glaring at Setsuna still. "Say something!" he roared, but still Setsuna refused to respond. Then Saji charged Setsuna, grabbing the meister's handgun from its holster. Saji backed up, aiming the gun at Setsuna. "Say something!" he repeated.

"_This is starting to get out of hand, time for me to step in." _Sterling decided. He quickly moved between Saji and Setsuna, shielding his comrade while drawing own gun, training it on Saji.

"Who the hell are you?! Get out of my way!" Saji demanded.

"My name is Sterling Aarden. Super Soldier of the former Human Reform League, and Gundam Meister of Celestial Being." Sterling replied. Saji paled slightly at the words 'super soldier', but the gun stayed pointing towards Sterling. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen closely. You've lost a lot of people close to you, and I understand what you must be feeling right now. But trust me; what you're doing right now won't bring them back or make you feel better. So please, just put the gun down." The gun pointing at the meister began to shake, before Saji fell to his knees crying, the gun clattering to the floor. Sterling sighed with relief, putting his own gun away. Setsuna moved forward cautiously, retrieving his gun before leaving Saji alone.

"So, what now?" he asked.

"Hopefully, the Ptolemaios should be able to pick us up, once I let them know where we are." Sterling replied, activating his comlink. "Ptolemaios, this is Sterling. I've found Setsuna and the Exia. Roger that, co-ordinates to follow..."

* * *

><p>Saji didn't bother to look up as the door to the room he was in opened. Shortly after boarding Celestial Being's spaceship, he had been shown into a confinement room and left alone. In truth, Saji was glad for his current accommodations; they offered few distractions, allowing him to think about what had just happened, how because of the Gundams his life had been turned completely on its head.<p>

"Hi, we've brought you something to eat! I'll just leave it right here, so help yourself. And we'll be leaving Red Haro here to keep you company." Mileina said cheerfully. She placed the tray of food next to the door, as Red Haro floated into the room. Sterling stood beside her, keeping an eye on proceedings. Given Saji's actions back on _Proud_, he wanted to be sure their guest didn't try anything with Mileina.

"**Pleased to meet you! Pleased to meet you!" **Red Haro chirped happily, as it floated around the small room, its tiny wings flapping all the while.

"If you need anything from me or the others, just tell it to Red Haro. You'll also be able to access our database." Mileina continued.

"How much longer are you gonna keep me here?" Saji asked, his gaze not shifting from the wall next to him.

"We know the A-LAWS are still looking for you." Sterling replied.

"Look, I'm not a member of Katharon!" Saji shouted angrily, glaring at Mileina and Sterling.

"I believe you. But either way this is the safest place for you to be." Sterling replied, unfazed by Saji's outburst. Sterling had grown used to people yelling at him. All of the years he spent as a test subject within the Human Reform League's Superhuman Research Institute had steeled him to the point where it was difficult to get any kind of rise out of him, a fact he was secretly glad for.

"So, what happens now? Are you guys going to start performing those armed interventions again?" Saji asked.

"Not this time. We're going to take on the A-LAWS." Sterling replied, noticing Saji obvious unfamiliarity with the term. "It's an autonomous force that reports directly to the Federation government. As of now, they've already committed fourteen acts of mass murder, what they call 'suppression'. However, all records and witnesses have been eliminated, so other than Katharon and us, no one else has any idea of what's really happening. I'm certain you've experienced these facts first hand, right?" Saji was forced to admit that Sterling was right; he'd seen how the A-LAWS had massacred all of the workers on _Proud_, using autonomous weapons.

"But what does it all mean? Wasn't the Federation formed in the first place because of your interventions?" Saji asked.

"Yes, but that's why we have to act. This is our sin, so we have to erase that sin ourselves." Sterling replied.

"But if you fight, more innocent people will be hurt!" Saji exclaimed.

"That may be so, but even if we don't fight, people will still die." Sterling replied.

"Mr Aarden, the test is going to be starting soon." Mileina said. Sterling nodded. Now that they finally had Exia's solar reactor, Ian was eager to carry out a matching test between t and the 0 Gundam's GN Drive. Hopefully, the two drives would match up well enough to allow the Double 0's Twin Drive System to work. At present, their best combination had yielded only 60% synchronisation, still well below the 80% required for stable operation.

"All right, we should get going then." Sterling said, closing the door.

"And him? What's Setsuna doing right now?" Saji asked.

"Oh, he's gone to pick up some people.' Mileina replied.

"He's tracking down a few of our comrades." Sterling explained, shutting the fully. Sterling sighed heavily, drawing a confused look from Mileina.

"Mr Aarden? Are you okay?" she asked, concerned for her comrade.

"Why does this world have to be so cruel?" Sterling wondered. "Even people like him, who just want to live their lives, can't escape what happens."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Sterling and Mileina arrived on the Ptolemaios' bridge. The matching test had yielded a synchronisation of 70%, the highest so far, but it still wasn't enough. Ian had elected to stay with the Double 0, to see what he could do to make it work.<p>

"I have some intel from Wang Liu Mei. She says the A-LAWS know where we are." Lasse reported.

"I'll take Seravee out. We need to hurry up the matching process." Tieria announced, heading from the bridge. "Feldt, go and help Ian. Sterling, follow me. I'll need your support as well."

"Roger." Feldt replied.

"You got it. Let's go." Sterling replied.

"_Opening hatches on Decks 1 and 2. Moving Seravee and 0 Gundam Tau to catapult decks." _Mileina announced. The front of the Ptolemaios' two main catapults unfolded, as both the Seravee and the 0 Gundam Tau ascended into the catapults. _"Increasing linear catapult voltage from 230 to 520, Seravee and 0 Gundam stabilised within fields. Transferring timing control of launch sequence to Seravee and 0 Gundam."_

"Roger that. Seravee, Tieria Erde, launching!" Tieria exclaimed. Seravee shot forward, leaving the catapult just as Sterling prepared to launch as well.

"Roger. 0 Gundam Tau, Sterling Aarden, commencing interception." Sterling said. The 0 Gundam Tau launched as well, quickly catching up to the slower and more cumbersome Seravee.

"_Sterling, here's the plan for now. I'll engage the enemy from long range, while you deal with any that manage to slip through. We can't let them attack Ptolemy, especially once the shuttle arrives." _Tieria explained.

"You got it. Don't worry, they won't get past me." Sterling replied. Just then, both pilots spotted the A-LAWS formation; two teams, each comprised of three GN-XIIIs and one Ahead. Tieria opened fire, attacking with both GN Bazookas and all four GN Cannons all at once. The A-LAWS suits quickly moved to evade the blasts, but one GN-XIII was too slow and exploded. One of the Aheads moved to engage Tieria, the other continuing on along with two of the surviving GN-XIIIs. The remaining three mobile suits charged towards the 0 Gundam Tau, guns blazing.

"Bad move." Sterling muttered, returning fire with the 0 Gundam Tau's rifle. Based on data gathered on the Alvaaron's rifles, the suit's new GN Beam Rifle was far more powerful than its predecessor, destroying the GN-XIII with one shot. The other two ignored their comrade's destruction, still charging towards the 0 Gundam Tau. Sterling charged to meet them, destroying the first suit of the pair with another well placed shot. The remaining GN-XIII drew its beam saber, abandoning ranged attacks in favour of close combat. Sterling responded in kind, replacing his suit's rifle before drawing one of its beam sabers. The two mobile suits clashed, their sabers grating against each other.

"Not bad. However..." Sterling said, as the GN-XIII tried to force him back. "At close range, you're the one who's out of luck!" he shouted. Sterling rammed the edge of the 0 Gundam Tau's shield into the GN-XIII's head, destroying the main camera and forcing the pilot to back away. Sterling gave him no time to recover, quickly slashing through the GN-XIII's torso, quickly backing away as the mobile suit exploded.

"_That's those three taken care of, but what about the others?" _Sterling wondered. Just as he thought this, something caught his eye; a massive plume of GN particles streaming from the Ptolemaios' portside catapult. The sight was truly breathtaking, even the A-LAWS and Tieria appeared spellbound. Then suddenly the massive stream of particles disappeared, as the 00 Gundam came rocketing out of the ship, both drive cones facing backwards, giving maximum thrust.

"_Is that...00 Gundam?' _Sterling wondered, amazed as he continued to watch. The blue-armoured Gundam charged towards the remaining GN-XIII and Ahead, both suits firing on it. The Ahead charged as well, but the 00 Gundam effortlessly evaded the shots, before firing a large crescent-shaped blast, which easily destroyed the Ahead. Almost immediately, both drives swung forward, while at the same time generating a wall of high density GN particles, which easily blocked the shots from the GN-XIII. The 00 Gundam returned fire, but the GN-XIII quickly deployed an anti-field, dispersing the particle beams before they got close. The 00 Gundam abandoned long-range fire, switching its GN Sword II to sword mode, charging the GN-XIII. Both suits continued head-on, but as they merged, the 00 Gundam's sword sliced through the GN-XIII's lance, before cutting the suit itself in half.

"Gundam..." Sterling breathed, stunned by the display; the 00 Gundam was far more amazing than he'd imagined, even though the fight lasted little over a minute.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? Like it? Don't it? Then please review and let me know! Your input is valuable, it allows me to mould the story to your guys' liking, and helps me improve overall as a writer. Anzac-A1 out!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Allelujah Rescue Operation

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait, but I only just recently got hit with the inspiration (more like a sudden thought) to get back to this story. Just so you guys know, each of my chapters that takes place during Season 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 will have the same title as its corresponding episode, which should make it very easy to follow events and see how I've altered them due to Sterling's presence, simply by checking the Gundam wiki or by watching the show itself, whichever you prefer. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy!**

**Episode Covered: S2 Episode 03.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Allelujah Rescue Operation.<p>

After the battle, the highlight of which being that the 00 Gundam was now operational and exceeding Ian's expectations, events seemed to pass in a rapid blur for Sterling Aarden. The super soldier was no stranger to this phenomenon, where the events following a battle or some other intense period of time led to the odd sensation not unlike being in a movie while someone pressed the fast-forward button on the remote. Almost immediately after Seravee, the 0 Gundam Tau and 00 Gundam were back on-board the Ptolemaios, their meisters and the rest of the crew were either reintroduced, or in Mileina's case introduced for the first time, to Sumeragi Lee Noriega, and a new face that was the spitting image of the former Lockon Stratos. This look-a-like was quickly revealed to be Neil Dylandy's brother, Lyle Dylandy, whom Setsuna had picked up before tracking down Sumeragi. For some reason, upon being introduced to Lyle, Feldt had quickly averted her eyes, her face flushed so slightly that Sterling believed he had been the only one to notice, Feldt then politely excused herself, leaving everyone else a little confused, but not overly suspicious. Sumeragi on the other hand, had quickly excused herself as well, though not as politely. In actual fact, the tactical forecaster had simply left the room without so much as saying hello to anyone. Although she was trying to hide something through her actions everyone, even Lyle, had a pretty good idea on why she had left the room. The combination of meeting someone who looked just like the deceased Lockon Stratos, as well as most of the Ptolemaios' crew all in one day had obviously been too much for the weary and dejected woman. After that, the ship had departed from the battlefield at top speed, the intention being to arrive at the resource satellite at Lagrange 1 as soon as possible. This was due to the fact that, with the new Lockon Stratos (Lyle) now on-board, it was imperative that they pick up both GN-006 Cherudim Gundam and GN-007 Gundam Arios as soon as possible.

"So Mister Aarden, what do you think of the new Mister Stratos? I'm only asking because I never got to meet his older brother before." Mileina asked. As the Ptolemaios made its way to Lagrange 1, the young operator and Sterling had both opted to spend to relatively long two-hour journey in one of the ship's observation rooms, one wall of which displayed a magnificent view of the Earth behind the ship. Sterling had previously remarked that he now knew what the Apollo astronauts must have felt like, when they saw the entire Earth for the first time, with its bright blue oceans, expanses of white cloud, and the dusty brown blots of land, all spread out like oil paint on a canvas. Sterling looked off towards the beautiful vista absently, pondering Mileina's question. Thankfully, although he'd only been around Neil Dylandy for a total of just under three weeks, he'd managed to get a pretty good read of the sniper's character.

"Well, I must admit I can certainly see the similarities. They're both a lot less serious than Tieria and Setsuna, though Lyle is clearly more laid-back than his brother. But at the same time I get the feeling that Lyle's sort of been in his brother's shadow, or at least he's felt that way. However, I don't really see him as the same kind of leader-type that Neil was. If anything, I'd say Setsuna seems to be taking over that role pretty well." Sterling replied, having decided on the most comprehensive answer he could come up with in the limited time-frame that Mileina usually gave for people to answer her questions.

"Yeah, I sort of get what you're saying. I guess we'll learn more about him later. By the way, you remember how Feldt reacted when she saw Lockon? What's that all about?" Mileina answered, her question laced with her usual curious undertone.

"Well, from what I recall when the other Lockon was around, I had the sneaking suspicion that Feldt had a bit of a crush on him." Sterling replied, grinning slightly at the fond memory. Upon hearing this revelation, Mileina suddenly bolted upright in her seat, eyes wide with astonishment.

"What! B-But Neil was at least ten years older than Feldt, wasn't he?!" she exclaimed, causing Sterling to cover his mouth with one hand to suppress his laughter. Finally, after four years he'd managed to surprise Mileina enough to elicit this kind of reaction from her. And he'd done it without even trying, a fact which only added to the humorous nature of the situation.

"Geez Mileina, I didn't think you'd be that surprised. What happened to that famous 'woman's intuition'?" Sterling joked, some of his previously suppressed laughter slipping out. Mileina simply pouted, causing Sterling to just laugh harder. "Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that Feldt's probably feeling pretty conflicted, given that she's just met someone who looks almost exactly like Lockon. Give her some time and she'll probably get over it." He explained, having managed to suppress his laughter.

* * *

><p>"Is it true? You know where they're holding Allelujah?" Sumeragi asked as she entered the briefing room, where the rest of the crew were already waiting. The desperate hope was evident in her voice.<p>

"Yeah, this is reliable information from Wang Lieu Mei." Lasse replied.

"We're getting started on a rescue mission now." Ian added. Shortly before, they had received a coded message from Wang Liu Mei, detailing exactly where the captured Gundam Meister had been held for the past four years; a detention centre inside the former Human Reform League. With Arios now on-board and the new Lockon Stratos, the time was right to launch a rescue operation.

"But how are you going to rescue him?" Sumeragi asked, turning to Ian.

"That's what we want you to figure out." Setsuna replied, stepping forward. "Miss Sumeragi, we'd like one of your tactical forecasts." He explained.

"But I..." Sumeragi began, before Tieria stepped forward.

"If he's with us, we can begin mounting operations with our full strength. We to rescue him before the A-LAWS make a move." Tieria said, his tone gentle but forceful at the same time.

'Hey, I'm still not so sure about this." Lockon said, before Tieria cut him off with a glare. "Oopsie."

"Miss Sumeragi, please. We need all the help we can get at this point. I know I speak for all of us when I say that we trust your plans and most of all we trust you." Sterling told the dejected tactical forecaster. "If you lend us your strength we can save Allelujah." Sumeragi held Sterling's gaze for a second, his eyes conveying the sincerity of his words, before lowering her gaze, a hand clutched to her chest. At this point, Feldt approached the older woman, a purple CB uniform in her hands. The new uniform had the same design as those worn by the other members, which all had their own different and unique colours.

"Miss Sumeragi, take this." Feldt said, holding the uniform out to her.

"Stop it! I can't live up to your expectations anymore!" Sumeragi exclaimed. "My forecasts can't really change anything that's going to happen! I'd just be putting all of you in danger!" The forecaster turned and ran towards to the door.

"There are no regrets!" Setsuna responded, causing Sumeragi to stop in her tracks. "Even if the mission fails, we'll never blame you for it. No matter what happens, Allelujah is our comrade, and we're going to save him. So please work out a tactical plan for us." Sumeragi hesitated, still facing the door. Likely she was struggling to resolve he war raging within her mind, trying to calm the raging waters of her emotions within her soul.

"Feldt, later could you update me on our current fighting strength and the present situation...please." she asked.

"Yes, Miss Sumeragi." Feldt replied happily. Sumeragi nodded slightly, before exiting the room.

* * *

><p>An hour later, the Ptolemaios arrived just beyond the orbital ring that girdled the earth, far enough from any of the three Orbital Elevators to remain undetected. As the ship held its position, Sterling, Lockon, Setsuna and Tieria suited up and headed to their respective Gundams. Once inside, the meisters settled into their cockpits, before securing their helmets. At the same time, Sumeragi finally submitted a tactical plan, which was bold to say the least. The plan called for a blitzkrieg-style assault, lasting just five minutes. Setsuna and Tieria were to break into the facility and rescue Allelujah. Setsuna would head inside, while Tieria would remain in Seravee to protect the pilotless 00 Gundam. Arios meanwhile would standby inside the Ptolemaios, in launch position. Once Setsuna freed Allelujah, Arios would launch under control of its autopilot, and break into the facility to rendezvous with its meister. Lockon would be positioned in the cliffs surrounding the facility to provide support with Cherudim's GN Sniper Gun II, while Sterling was assigned to guard against incoming missile fire from an A-LAWS ground battleship stationed at the facility and any of its mobile suits. As such, Ian equipped the 0 Gundam Tau with one of its newer weapons; the GN Beam Carbine. The weapons higher rate of fire made it perfect for the job<p>

"_Attention all crew. In a few minutes this ship will begin re-entry procedures, course set for the Human Reform League Detention Centre currently holding Allelujah Haptism. As soon as we enter the atmosphere, all Gundams will launch and take up their assigned positions. All Meisters, report to your Gundams immediately and standby for launch." _Feldt announced. Sterling reacted immediately and headed out of the room, grabbing his helmet on the way out. He'd already put his pilot suit on, having anticipated the announcement a few minutes earlier. In no time at all, the white-haired meister arrived at the hangar which housed both the 0 Gundam Tau and Setsuna's 00 Gundam. Wasting no time, Sterling quickly boarded the 0 Gundam Tau, the hatch closing itself behind him. Putting his helmet on, Sterling settled himself into his seat, just as Ian contacted him.

"_Sterling, just so you know I've already equipped the 0 Gundam with the GN Beam Carbine. Just remember, it's harder to control than the rifle, so try to limit yourself to short bursts."_Ian explained.

"Got it. Don't worry, I'll be careful." Sterling replied.

"_Ptolemy, now beginning re-entry. All Gundams standby." _Feldt announced.

"_Now moving 0 Gundam Tau to catapult deck. Increasing linear catapult voltage form 230 to 520, 0 Gundam Tau stabilised with linear field. Transferring timing controls to 0 Gundam." _Mileina announced.

"Roger, I have control." Sterling responded. "0 Gundam Tau, Sterling Aarden, launching!" The 0 Gundam Tau shot forward, its speed boosted by the Ptolemaios II's own velocity as the ship re-entered the atmosphere. Far below, Sterling could easily make out the detention centre, right next to the water, with an A-LAWS Guyana-class ground battleship a short distance away. It was Sterling's job to protect the Ptolemaios and the Gundams from the battleships' missile fire. As Sterling watched, the carrier's particle cannons opened fire, their orange particle beams streaking towards the Ptolemaios. The ship continued on, its speed protecting it from the carrier's attacks. The reason for this was the fact that the A-LAWS gunners were making the rookie mistake of aiming directly at their target. The tactic worked fine when attacking from dead ahead or behind, but from an angle, the Ptolemaios had already moved away by the time the particle beam reached the spot it had been aimed at. The ship plunged into the water, the impact generating a massive wave which sped towards the facility a short distance away. Like a tidal wave, the massive wall of water smashed through the wall of the facility, sweeping the Tierans on duty aside like rag-dolls. The water crashed into the main building, smashing through the face of the building and spraying much of the water into the air. The resulting increase in humidity would cut the strength of the carrier's particle beams by around 50%, allowing the Meisters to go in without worrying about fire coming from the carrier.

"_Sterling, the A-LAWS carrier is commencing missile fire against the Ptolemaios. Your job is to stop as many of the missiles as you can. And keep an eye out for its mobile suits as well" _Feldt explained.

"On it." Sterling replied, moving into position, which placed him and the 0 Gundam Tau directly between the carrier and the submerged Ptolemaios. Almost immediately, the carrier's missiles began to appear, each one trailing red/orange GN particles as they streaked in his direction. Sterling calmly waited until the missiles came into firing range, then opened fire. Sterling worked away at the missiles, firing bursts of particle beams as fast as possible, destroying most of the salvo. While the remaining missiles would pose no threat to the Ptolemaios, the second wave was already launching. Sterling kept on firing just managing to weather the storm of missiles.

* * *

><p>"<em>Damn, there's just no end to this!" <em>Sterling thought, as he brought down another wave of missiles. The barrage had dragged on for almost three minutes, leaving just two minutes for Setsuna to find and release Allelujah. Suddenly, a call came from Seravee.

"_We have found Allelujah!" _Tieria announced, grunting as Seravee was hit hard again. _"Launch Arios!"_

"_You got it! Arios, launching!" _Mileina replied. Looking down, Sterling spotted the top of the Ptolemaios as it breached the surface of the water below. Mere seconds later, Arios launched from the port-side catapult, heading for the facility, before the Ptolemaios re-submerged.

"_Good, it looks like we're almost done here." _Sterling thought. Better yet, the missile fire was beginning to subside. However, it was quickly replaced by particle beam fire, forcing Sterling to take evasive action. Apparently, the humidity of the surrounding air had dropped low enough for the battleship's particle beams to become effective again. Worse still, the ship's mobile suits had now launched. A total of three GN-XIII's were heading towards him, with four others heading toward the detention centre. The GN-XIIIs opened fire on the 0 Gundam Tau, intent on destroying the lone mobile suit.

"Here we go. Now this is more like it!" Sterling exclaimed, charging forward to meet them, firing his own weapon in response. And while the 0 Gundam Tau was able to evade the incoming fire, the A-LAWS pilots had no such luck. The combination of Sterling's accuracy and the GN Beam Carbine's rate of fire meant that they simply couldn't react quickly enough. And the 0 Gundam Tau's anti-beam coating meant that any particle beams which did manage to hit did failed to deal any kind of damage. Finally, with his two comrades gone, the remaining A-LAWS pilot abandoned ranged combat and charged at Sterling, his GN Lance aimed to spear the 0 Gundam Tau through the cockpit. Sterling held his course, then at the last second dodged to the left. Unable to react, the GN-XIII flew past, before a burst of particle beams struck the suit in the back and destroyed it. With no remaining targets, and the Guyana-class now firing on him with its main cannons, Sterling contacted Feldt.

"Feldt, it's Sterling." Sterling announced, his breathing slightly heavier due to the intense few minutes of combat. "I'm all done here. What's the status of the others?"

"_Sterling, Allelujah is onboard Arios right now. We're just about to leave." _Feldt replied _"Withdraw now."_

"Glad to hear it, withdrawing now." Sterling replied. The 0 Gundam Tau turned away from the battleship, quickly following the now-withdrawing 00 Gundam, Seravee, Arios and Cherudim.

* * *

><p>Back onboard the Ptolemaios, Sterling wiped the sweat off his forehead as he headed over to join Tieria and Allelujah. Lockon was busy finding his way around the ship, and as for Setsuna, he was busy talking with Marina Ismail. Feldt had informed Setsuna that the Azadistan princess was also being held in the detention centre, and so Setsuna had decided to rescue her as well.<p>

"He may be level-headed normally, but he sure can be impulsive sometimes." Sterling remarked, as he arrived outside the rest room. Upon opening the door, he found Tieria already talking with Allelujah. The super soldier was obviously a little weary, as evidenced by the clear bags beneath each eye. "I take it the last few years weren't too kind on you, eh Allelujah?"

"Oh, Sterling." Allelujah replied, the meister's voice getting his attention. "Yeah, don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Sterling nodded, smiling.

"Good to hear. I'm just glad you're back."

"Thanks, it's good to be back." Allelujah replied, smiling gratefully. Just then, they were interrupted by Lockon, who had finally finished wandering around.

"Man oh man, this ship is amazing! It even operates underwater!" he exclaimed, as Allelujah jumped to his feet in shock.

"L-Lockon?! But how?!" he exclaimed.

"I'm getting real tired of that reaction" Lockon replied, leaving Allelujah even more confused. Allelujah turned to Sterling and Tieria, clearly asking for an explanation.

"He's Neil Dylandy's younger brother Lyle." Sterling explained. "Setsuna recruited him while he was tracking down Miss Sumeragi."

"Oh, I see." Allelujah replied, still a bit shocked, but now a little less confused. "I guess that makes sense."

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the long wait, but I've been busy with university and other stuff, plus I just haven't felt the inspiration to write for a while. But don't worry, I've gotten the urge to write again, and will hopefully be uploading another chapter for this fic soon. I'll also be starting another Mobile Suit Gundam 00 fanfic soon, so keep an eye out for it if you're interested. Anzac-A1, out!<strong>


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